I tell you that on the last day, at the Last Judgment, those on the right hand of the Son of Man and those on the left will be seen. When I come as the righteous Judge, I will say: Just as you closed your hearts to the needs of your brothers and sisters, so I will close the gates of the Kingdom to you. What you did not do for the least among you, you did not do for Me, and your guilt is all the greater because you knew of Me, of My Gospel, and of the Law. Depart from Me, you who practice iniquity, for My brother is he who resembles Me, and you, beneath a hypocritical mask, do not resemble Me, being without Love, which is My Nature. This is where the likeness in Love lies: perfect Love in the Firstborn among the brothers. Love that became as perfect as possible in the brothers to Christ and in the faith. Whoever does not live in love and practice works of love is not a brother of Christ—who loved even to the point of dying for His brothers—and therefore is not His co-heir.
Those who were called did not and do not remain deaf to the call, nor did they grow weary of following it. On the contrary, with heroism, they went and go in His footsteps.
They did not fall into despair if love for the Lord meant for them a succession of trials and sufferings. Nor did they believe, nor do they believe, that they were less loved if God allowed men and events to persecute them. On the contrary, knowing the One who called them, His love, and His mercy, they feel Him as Father and Brother even in the most painful hours; and trusting in Christ, in whom they firmly believe, they complete their journey to Heaven, from which the call came.
No one can depart from this rule if they wish to remain in the state of glory to which God has called them. Jesus, a man by birth from Mary—filled with gifts and dearly loved by the Father—was a faithful steward and energetic in using the gifts He had received with justice, just as would have been the case for all men had they remained innocent and full of grace— (Jesus and Mary) knew no corruption of the flesh, but through grace united to the soul without stain, they entered the eternal Kingdom, into complete glorification.
Commentary on the message:
Jesus reminds us that each of us will face two judgments: a particular judgment, immediately after death, and a universal judgment, when He Himself returns at the end of time to judge everyone.
If during our lives we have not helped our brothers and sisters in need, we will not be judged worthy to enter the Kingdom of God.
The judgment, therefore, will be based on love, because God Himself is love; it is His nature.
Whoever has love in their heart resembles God; whoever performs works of love is His brother; whoever lives in love is also capable of giving their own life, of dying for others, as Jesus did for us.
The first apostles, after Jesus’ death and after receiving the Holy Spirit (Pentecost), began three activities: they proclaimed the Gospel to all peoples, they helped the needy (diaconia), and they were missionaries. In the name of Christ, they endured every kind of trial: imprisonment, flogging, beatings, expulsion from Jerusalem, humiliation… but they endured it all with heroism, because they had come to know Jesus; they had understood that He was the Son of God and could not “refuse to speak of what they had seen and heard.” Jesus tells us, in this message, that the same fate awaits us, His new apostles. Nothing can make us doubt His love, even when life subjects us to the harshest trials, when we feel abandoned by everyone. We must continue with confidence on our journey that will lead us to our Heavenly Homeland, from where we come and where our hearts long to return.
Jesus concludes the message by reminding us that both He and His most sweet Mother never experienced the effects of sin (the corruption of the flesh), because they remained innocent and filled with grace (the friendship of God the Father), and that the same fate would have befallen us as well if we had remained pure and in God’s love.
With this masterful lesson in theology, Jesus highlights, in summary, one of the three cornerstones of this Lenten season: almsgiving. Let us commit ourselves to helping those most in need; let us not refuse to offer help—whether material or spiritual—to those who need it.
Source: ➥ LaReginaDelRosario.org